$1.5 Million Acquired by Ukrainian Restaurant-Billing Startup Settle

Recently, it was announced that Ukrainian restaurant-payment startup Settle – developed by the same team that brought us Advice Wallet – had received $1.5 million in funding via venture-capital fund Life.SREDA in order to launch its mobile payment application.

“We took part in lengthy negotiations with Life.SREDA about possible investment in the project Advice Wallet,” stated Settle CEO Stas Matviyenko in a press release. “After discussions with the analysts and investors at the fund we came up with the idea for the mobile payments service Settle, which offers establishments a truly new way to serve their customers. Essentially it is a mobile payments service and loyalty scheme in one app. Together with Life.SREDA we plan to assist establishments with making payment quicker and more convenient.”

Using Settle, users can both order and pay their bill at the restaurant or cafe via a smartphone.

The user’s bank account is linked to the app and registered through a social network, such as Facebook.

Thereafter, the consumer can look at the menu, divide up a bill between friends, carry out peer-to-peer transactions and receive offers from establishments, among other activities.

In addition, restaurants using Settle are provided with tablets and an accompanying app to view customer and billing information, as well as detailed analytics.

"From the very start of the creation of the fund we looked at a huge number of loyalty programmes both in Russia and abroad,” stated Life.SREDA partner Aleksandr Ivanov in the same press release. “We took the decision to invest in Settle, developed by the Advice Wallet team, because they were the first to understand that a loyalty scheme in and of itself is pointless. The key is what it can help the restaurant or bar owner to get from their clients. The client first registers with the programme via a social network, and then the merchant receives information about payments made by the client. This information allows for personalisation, with the help of which the café or restaurant can form a one to one relationship with their clients.

“Furthermore, we liked the team behind the project. They are young, ambitious and it feels like they have global potential. We will be able to provide them with resources and to access the Russian and international markets."

Some other popular payment apps for bars and restaurants:

PayPal:

PayPal announced a major update to its iOS and Android apps on Sept. 5, 2013, revealing features designed to make it more convenient for customers to pay restaurant bills and take advantage of deals based on location. Some functions of the app, such as accessing and managing aPayPal account and transferring money to a friend, remain the same.

With this update, the PayPal preorder feature, which was made possible through PayPal’s partnership with Eat24, is available at more than 1,000 restaurants. When in action, nearby restaurants and shops offering its coupons and services are displayed on the phone. The app leads the customer to the full menu, where the user can customize his order. After the order has been placed, the customer does not have to wait in line at the restaurant and can instead directly pick up his food or drink. After the transaction is complete, the receipt is sent to the customer via e-mail.

Cover enables customers to pay at restaurants without waiting for the check. Cover gives restaurants data to personalize service. Servers save time and wait on tables faster. The result is better service and a better experience for everyone. Cover is also meant to solve the problem of splitting the bill – the usual conundrum of who pays ​for what, who doesn’t pay for what, and so on. So it’s pretty neat in that sense as well. The Cover app can be downloaded free of charge through iTunes here. Cover was founded by Mark Egerman and Andrew Cove. Until July 2014, the company had received a total funding of $1.6 Mn.

Egerman is the payments and legal expert, while Cove drives the technology and fundraising. On July 10, 2014, Cover announced that it had raised $5.5 Mn in a new round of funding led by Spark Capital, with participation from seed investors OATV, Lerer Ventures, John McDonald and Naval Ravikant.

Tabbedout:

Tabbedout was co-founded in 2009 by Rick Orr (CEO) and David Lemley (CTO). The Texas-based company has acquired $13.5 Mn in funding. Thefree Tabbedout app for iPhone and Android enables consumers to open a tab with their mobile phone, view their tab in real time and pay the tab anytime, anywhere. Users can even split the check, paying just their portion directly from the app.

Tabbedout says its mobile payment solution integrates directly with the merchant’s point-of-sale (POS) system without requiring additional hardware. This enables Tabbedout merchants to serve more people and turn over more tables, especially during peak hours. Tabbedout also provides validated payment information when a tab is first opened. Tabbedout is available at more than 1,000 locations nationwide. Thefree smartphone app is available for download from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

MyCheck:

MyCheck was launched In March 2011 in Israel. The company has received $6.1 Mn from the Werthaimer family, Saban Capital Group and Eli Elroy.

How does it work? When they arrive at a participating restaurant, consumers can “check in” with MyCheck. A four-digit code on their smartphone screens is then shown to their servers. Once a server enters this code into the restaurant’s POS system, customers are able to view, split and pay their restaurant bill. Restaurants get paid within 24 to 48 hours via ACH credit. Restaurants are charged no setup costs or monthly fees.

MyCheck says it has more than 100,000 direct subscribers and 1 Mn indirect users in Israel. It is accepted by around 400 merchants, including the largest full-service cafe chain (at 120 locations) and second-largest gas-station chain (215 locations). MyCheck has 20 employees in Israel, five in London and nine in Manhattan.

Dash:

Dash is amobile payments platform that enables users to pay their bill with a smartphone without having to wait for the check at restaurants, clubs and bars. Restaurants also get reports, analytics and insights into customer behavior. The company was founded in January 2011 and has received $700,000 in funding from New York Angels, Brooklyn Incubator and Caerus Ventures.

Dash enables users to open, view and pay their restaurant or bar tab directly on their iPhone at several popular venues. Apart from being able to collect faster payments, restaurants get access to analytics based on the data captured through Dash. Dash will also be able to split bills and store gift-card information in the coming months, according to the company. Dash users can even suggest new venues to be added to the application by making use of a feature called Request Venue, which will ping bars and restaurants to inform them that their customers are requesting that they enable payments via Dash.

E La Carte:

E La Carte, founded by a group of MIT engineers, launched its first Presto tablet in 2011, developing the device for the restaurant industry and related hospitality industries. The company, whose CEO is Rajat Suri, provides tablets on restaurant tables so customers can order food whenever they want to, children can play games, and customers can pay their bills, while seated, using credit/debit cards, since the tablet is designed in such a way that it recognizes plastic money.

The 7-inch tablet helps people visit the restaurant’s menu via photos and detailed descriptions using a touch-screen interface. This digital menu could save customers time and frustration. The tablet also has a section for payments and games, including drawing apps. Its chain partners include Genghis Grill, global restaurant firm HMSHost, and Evergreen Restaurant group, which franchises Outback Steakhouses. E La Carte has secured $13.5 Mn in Series B funding, led by Intel Capital, in participation with Romulus Capital and other investors. The deal was completed on June 24, 2013.

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